The First Deadly Sin

The First Deadly Sin is a 1980 American crime mystery thriller film produced by and starring Frank Sinatra. The film also features Faye Dunaway, David Dukes, Brenda Vaccaro, James Whitmore, and Martin Gabel in his final role. The movie is based on the 1973 novel of the same name written by Lawrence Sanders. The screenplay was written by Mann Rubin. The film was originally slated to be directed by Roman Polanski, who was dropped by Columbia Pictures after statutory rape charges were brought against him. Director Brian G. Hutton took over the production after Polanski fled to France. The last of nine films produced by Sinatra, and his final starring role, he plays a troubled New York City homicide cop, Captain Edward X. Delaney. In a small role, Dunaway is the detective's ailing wife, hospitalized during the entire story with a rare kidney affliction. Bruce Willis makes his film debut as an extra walking past Sinatra in a restaurant, although he's virtually unrecognizable due to a hat that covers his eyes. The First Deadly Sin was the third production by Sinatra's Artanis production company and was shot on location in New York City. It premiered on October 23, 1980, at Loew's State Theatre in Times Square as part of a benefit for the Mother Cabrini Medical Center. The musical score was by composer and arranger Gordon Jenkins, who had first worked with Sinatra on the 1957 album "Where Are You?"